


Never Say, "Thank You"

by AnitaAlways



Category: Dragon Ball
Genre: Confused Son Goku (Dragon Ball), Jiren's race is basically the Fair Folk of the universe, Minor Bulma Briefs/Vegeta, Minor Chi-Chi/Son Goku (Dragon Ball), Vegeta being cautious
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-12
Updated: 2020-12-30
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:47:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 2,184
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28036413
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnitaAlways/pseuds/AnitaAlways
Summary: Vegeta is clever. He prides himself on it. And he's arrogant. Everyone says so. But he's neither of those things such that he is not cautious around Jiren. That race is danger incarnate, a threat to every universe, and their idea of fun includes chaos and entrapment. And Vegeta has a feeling that if (no, when) they get out of this, he's going to have to walk on eggshells every time his path crosses Jiren's- and that he's going to have to keep that idiot Kakarot out of trouble.
Comments: 10
Kudos: 4





	1. Echens

**Author's Note:**

> This scene is the only one that will take place before the Tournament.

“Vegeta? What’s wrong?” Goku asked, noting how the prince was looking at the Pride Troopers. 

Lowering his voice, Vegeta hissed, “You never told me that Jiren fellow was a... was one of _them_!” 

“Them? What them?” Goku asked. “Is this another thing from Planet Vegeta?” 

Vegeta groaned. “...no. I know Jiren’s race. They are dangerous. What have you said to him?” 

“...hi. That’s it.” 

Vegeta, feeling a set of eyes on him, pulled Goku aside. “Kakarot, listen. Jiren’s race is called the Echens. They’re a race of clever, dangerous tricksters who can gain power over others through various means. If you’re careless, they can even capture your soul.” 

Goku tilted his head. “Isn’t that just in our universe? The Universe 6 Saiyans are different from us.” 

“In any other case that would be true. However, the Echens are a universal singularity.” The look on Goku’s face reminded Vegeta that all his intelligence had gone to fighting, and the prince sighed before restating the information in simpler terms. “The Echen race is the same in every universe, and they seem to know about each other. They’re the race everyone else sleeps around with both eyes open. Even Frieza doesn’t go near them.” 

“Are they evil?” 

“Not necessarily, they just find it amusing to entrap other people. Among other things.” 

Goku frowned. “What do I do?” 

Vegeta sighed. “It’s not what you do, it’s what you don’t do. Don’t give him your name, for one.” 

“Name?” 

“For Echens, they have power. Do not give an Echen your name unless you’re sure you know their true name.” 

“Can I use Kakarot?” 

“If you don’t mind me kicking you in the d*ck,” Vegeta responded sourly, glaring daggers at the other Saiyan. 

“What about a nickname?” 

“...that works. We must spread the word to the others to not give out their names.” 

Vegeta and Goku went back to meet their team, Vegeta pointedly ignoring the gaze fixed on him and the challenging smile in those eyes.


	2. Scroll

It was about a month after the Tournament before Goku and Vegeta heard from Jiren again, and it was in the form of two rolled-up scrolls with a dinner invitation: _It is requested that the highly-regarded Son Goku and His Royal Highness Prince Vegeta IV honor the master of Gray Estate with their presence on the Third Day of the Seventh Month of this year. Please take your journey to the Great Mountain on Planet Ares at 3 o'clock on the given day. RSVP to Master J.T. Gray; it merely requires writing on the other end of this scroll._

Vegeta had to give it to the Echen, his handwriting was beautiful. Unnerving, but beautiful. Goku, of course, was happy to go, but Vegeta was hesitant. 

“But it’s free food!” 

“Kakarot, you don’t eat Echen food in Echen territory!” Vegeta glared. “Do you realize what that would do?!” 

Goku tilted his head. “Is their food poison?” 

Vegeta sighed. “No... eating an Echen's food can do much to you if you eat it in their land. It can trap you there, for one.” 

“How?” Goku asked. 

“Magic. The stronger the magic, the more it would hurt you to try and escape. Even if you could escape, you would no longer be able to eat anything not made by Echen hands. Which means you would starve.” 

“And die?” 

“Oh, no. Once the exhaustion gets to you, the Echen that fed you would be alerted to your location and show up to drag you back to their territory.” Vegeta shuddered. “There were stories back home about how Echen captured poor fools to do Kais-know-what with. I don’t know how many are true, but I don’t want to take the risk.” 

“So... should we say no?” 

“And insult an Echen? HFIL no, I’d rather p*ss off Lord Beerus. But there is another way. Ask if he would take offense to us bringing our own food; potlucks are not uncommon in their culture.” 

Goku tilted his head and picked up the scroll. “Do you have a pen?” 

A sigh. “Here. And watch your tone. You never know what might anger an Echen.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How Jiren knows Goku and Vegeta's names: they gave Zeno and the Grand Minister said names before they found out Jiren was an Echen. So when they got knocked off, he found out. Vegeta is silently freaking out and is going to have Goku change his legal name along with him.


	3. Music, Sweet Music

_He hated having his meditation interrupted. It annoyed him to no end, and after a battle alongside the Pride Troopers (granted, it didn’t take him much effort to win, but still), he needed to unwind. And Echen hearing was so much better than other races’ hearing that he couldn’t escape it. So hearing haunting music, while it sounded good, ultimately was irking him. So he had to find the source._

_His search led him to the auditorium of a well-known concert hall, where one lone woman was sitting at an instrument, playing it with a haunted look on her face. Slipping inside, the Echen listened to the song and took in the swirl of emotions around the girl, Sorrow, grief, fear... what had happened to her to hurt her so much? Smiling slightly so he wouldn’t scare her too much, Jiren tapped her shoulder once he got close enough._

_She blanched and stared at him. “Wait! Don’t kick me out, I finished cleaning the place!”_

_“I have no intention of doing that. I just came because I heard your song. You have talent.”_

_“...thank you. I wrote it a week ago.”_

_“You seem upset. What happened?”_

_“...bad news.”_

_“Care to elaborate?” Jiren asked, waving a hand and sitting in the chair that rolled over._

_“...what the hell, it’s not like I have anything to live for now anyway. Someone burned down my family’s house.” The music became more frantic as her voice turned harsh. “Nobody survived, and that son of a b@tch got away. We lost everything but a run-down transporter that I got.”_

_Ooh, a loss. “I can relate. Something similar happened to me twice. Hard thing to go through.”_

_“I’d feel less horrible if I could hurt him back. But nobody could find him.” The music turned vengeful. Was she improvising?_

_Questions for later. "I can find him."_

_"...you're not serious." The music had stopped, thank Belmod._

_"Oh, no, I'm serious."_

_"How?!"_

_"Being a Pride Trooper has advantages."_

_At that moment it dawned on the girl who she was speaking to. "No way."_

_A smile, warm and inviting. "Way."_

_"...if you're who I think you are, you're not offering that out of the kindness of your heart. You want something from me."_

_Jiren nodded. "My reputation as an Echen precedes me. I have not made a deal in a while, and I have to. Magic is a fickle thing." It wasn't a lie, he was going to have to make a deal sooner or later._

_"...so what do you want?"_

_"One thing you own. I bring you the man and you give me one thing you own after whatever you do to him." Jiren smiled. "That doesn't sound unreasonable, does it?"_

_"H-how do I know I can trust you?"_

_"You don't. But if I had to guess, you want revenge enough to risk it," Jiren replied, putting a hand out and grinning once she took it._

* * *

A day on the field always left Jiren wanting to unwind. His favorite place to do it was his study, where he kept his most prized possessions. Sitting in a chair, he waved his hand in the direction of a set of instruments, and they all set themselves up to play, a spike of consciousness asking what he was in the mood for. 

"I need to relax. Play me something calming, will you?" 

The music immediately filled the air, and Jiren smiled as he allowed it to carry him to the silent world of his dreams. 


	4. Pages

_Patrol was boring. Usually he’d find one or two criminals and scare them out of whatever they were doing, but nothing more. Only once could he remember a time when he got to have fun with it._

_It was a data center. Who robbed a data center? Everything even remotely valuable there was data hubs with stories you could buy at home and one or two empty hubs... of course the thief was stealing one of them._

_From immediately behind them, the Echen demanded, “What are you doing?”_

_“AAAAH!” The thief turned, almost dropping the hub._

_Jiren deadpanned. “Didn’t expect to be caught?” he asked, putting a hand out for the hub._

_The thief, to the Pride Trooper’s surprise, pulled it closer to themself, stepping back. “No. And I don’t want to give it up.”_

_He could have taken it. It would have been nothing to him. But if someone wanted something enough that they were willing to defy the strongest mortal in the universe, it’s worth looking into, at least to satisfy his Echen instincts. “Why not?”_

_“Nobody comes here anymore! Why would anyone care if I used one data hub to write in?”_

_Jiren crossed his arms. “You just want something to write in?”_

_"What do you care?"_

_"I'm here instead of meditating. I'd like to know why."_

_"Look, I just want to write stuff, and data hubs are so expensive nowadays. Nobody would care if I took one."_

_Jiren's lips twitched upwards slightly as the thief's emotional turmoil flooded the room. Nothing like an easy catch. "I would. Crime is still crime, even if it's as simple as this. Besides, if you want to write, I can get you the resources."_

_"... you're lying. You have to be."_

_"Can't lie. It irks me to no end, but I can't lie." Jiren hummed. "And before you ask, the offer is serious."_

_"Why would you do that?"_

_"Do you know what the Echen are?"_

_"...no."_

_Holy sh*t, this was like getting a free vacation. "Dealmakers. We offer things people want in exchange for something that benefits us. In this case, it would be you promising to stop this stealing business."_

_The thief tilted their head. "That's it?"_

_"That's it."_

_"Great! Where do I sign?"_

It was a quiet day. No patrol or alerts, and he'd finished his training. Perfect time for reading. 

Jiren owned one human book; even if books were obsolete now, there was something pleasing about the feel of it in his hands. He waved a hand, and it floated over to him; he brushed the dust off the silver cover, and the red gemstone in the center glowed. 

"What do you have for me today, young soul?" he asked, opening the book. It seemed to murmur once he turned the light to it, and he chuckled. "Oh, don't be like that, you had a good 12 hours of sleep." 

The murmurs acquiesced, and the Echen watched as black markings appeared on the book, forming the words to a new story in its pages. 

" **Two Blue Eyes** , hmm? Sounds intriguing. Is this a mystery?" 

The murmurs confirmed it, and Jiren smiled at the excitement in the air. "You write the most entertaining stories," he praised, turning to the first page.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thess chapters serve only as a view into how Jiren interacts with people he's trying to get into a deal. Next we're gonna see what the deal is with Toppo.


	5. Talk Between Teammates

_ “You do magic.” It was a statement, not a question, said by someone who could tell.  _

_ “I used to,” Toppo responded, not even turning around. “I don’t dabble in it much anymore.”  _

_ “May I ask why?”  _

_ Toppo sighed. “I won a bet with an Echen. The resulting increase in magic is painful to use.” There was a veiled attack on the Echen in there; Jiren was well aware of their reputation as bad sports.  _

_ “So you turned to battle power. I would have thought you would have given up the supernatural altogether.”  _

_ “With so much injustice in the universe? How could I?” Toppo poured himself a drink. “What about you? Why did you join? You didn’t even ask anything of us.”  _

_ Jiren bit into a glowing fruit. “Don’t need to. I’ll benefit somehow.”  _

_ Toppo fixed Jiren with a wary gaze. “You are a dangerous ally. You have both strong magic and immense battle power. If you ever decided it would be funny to turn us evil, there’s not a d@mn thing we could do about it.”  _

_ “That’s true.”  _

_ “And you could want this team’s souls and I wouldn’t be able to prove anything until you made a move to take them.”  _

_ “And even then, it would have to be an obvious move. Me just doing one of you a good turn wouldn’t cut it.”  _

_ Toppo’s gaze deepened. “You said it, not me. I don’t trust you, Jiren.”  _

_ “I am aware.” Jiren shrugged. “Shame, really. What do you guys have if not trust?”  _

_ “You are the last person who needs to be talking about that, what with all the work I have to do to get you to accept team missions,” Toppo pointed out.  _

_ “I admit, I could use work on that-”  _

_ “Good. I’m assigning you a patrol with Cocotte. Don’t try anything.”  _

_ Jiren nodded. “Of course,” he replied, bowing respectfully before leaving with a grin.  _

_ Toppo was going to be a challenge since he knew the ways of the Echen- and Jiren was fully aware that he wouldn’t be able to touch the other Troopers without getting past the large ex-magician. Ah well, he wasn’t worried. It just meant a fun way to kill time.  _


End file.
